Written question asked by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Wednesday, 28 April 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 May 2004. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Monday, 17 May 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to create a unified database of (a) health records and (b) users of NHS services; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to create a unified database of (a) health records and (b) users of NHS services; and if he will make a statement. [170334] Mr. Hutton: The national programme for information technology in the national health service in England has been established to connect delivery of the NHS Plan with the capabilities of modern information technologies to support the delivery of fast, convenient and seamless services designed around the patient. Fundamental to this is the NHS care records service (NHS CRS) that will enable patient care information and records to be accessed at the point of need anywhere in England. Over time, the NHS CRS will provide all 50 million NHS patients with an individual electronic care record to summarise key treatment and episodes of care within either the health service or social care. Access to any personally identifiable information about patients will be subject to stringent access controls, confidentiality and security safeguards and will be fully compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 170334; 421 c819-20W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Access Databases ICT NHS Patients Medical records NHS care records service
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk